Just got an email warning of pending changes to the 28 Degrees shoppers/price protection policy on my card. Thinking it was going to be changed for the worse, and wondering how I was going to get screwed, I got a pleasant surprise. Seems they have actually increased the cover period, benefits and limits, and most notably you can now compare your price protection policy to other retailers. Of course they doubled the price for all this, from 0.5% to 1% of your balance, per month. I still aim to pay off my card in full each month so it costs nothing :)
I hope my Coles Mastercard gets similar changes (they are both insured through Latitude Finance).
Effective from 24 October 2018
Cover changes:
Price Protection
- Increasing the period of cover from 6 months to 12 months for each item.
- Extending the benefit to cover lower prices and not just price reductions.
- Extending the benefit to lower prices available at any other Australian retailer.
- Increasing the limit per item from $600 to $1,000.
- Increasing the limit for all items in any 12-month period from $2,000 to $5,000.
Merchandise Protection
- Increasing the period of cover from 6 months to 12 months for each item.
- Increasing the limit per item from $1,000 to $2,000.
- Increasing the limit for a single event from $4,000 to $5,000.
- Increasing the limit for all items in any 12-month period from $8,000 to $10,000.
Involuntary Unemployment
- Removing the exclusion for ceasing casual or temporary employment
Other changes:
What it costs
- Increased the premium from 0.5% to 1% of the monthly closing balance of your account.
Yes, you will still get charged the 1% premium.
Reason being, the 1% is charged at the time the statment is generated. But your direct debit is charged a few days/weeks after the statment date when the payment is due.